US diplomat barred from leaving Pakistan

A US military attaché working in Pakistan has been barred from leaving the country over an alleged role in the death of a motorcycle driver in a road accident.

Security officials said on Saturday that Colonel Joseph Emanuel Hall failed to get clearance to board a plane, which was arriving at Nur Khan air base to carry him out of Pakistan.

The plane returned, said the two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. There was no comment from either the Pakistani Foreign Ministry or the US Embassy in Islamabad.

Hall allegedly ran a red light on April 7 in the capital Islamabad and killed Ateeq Baig, a motorcyclist. Islamabad’s High Court had recommended that the Pakistani government add Hall’s name to a travel ban list as the American national did not have full diplomatic immunity. Pakistan’s Interior Ministry informed the court last month that the US diplomat had been blacklisted.

Sources said an assistant of Hall has also been arrested for obstructing a police official from performing his duty on the scene of the road accident. Other sources said authorities were filing arrest warrants for others who had helped Hall leave the police station after the fatal incident.

The decision could add to previous tensions between Washington and Islamabad, as the US has already rebuked Pakistan for its alleged support to certain militant groups that have targeted the US military personnel in neighboring Afghanistan. US President Donald Trump has even vowed to reduce his administration’s military aid to Pakistan. Islamabad denies supporting militants in Afghanistan and insists that Washington is seeking to blame others for failure of its lengthy military presence in the war-torn country.